Archives for 2007

I recently attended two training sessions run by the West Midlands Group of the ITI – one by Nick Rosenthal from Salford Translations on Sustainable Customer Relationships, and the other by Vernon Blackmore from Ambit New Media on Websites for Translators. Excellent stuff, even if I did miss a very exciting rugby match on Saturday when my radio couldn’t get reception on the train home…

Websites for Translators

Vernon gave us an excellent run down on what exactly is involved in getting a website up and running. As the second session of the day, I didn’t envy Vernon his task – it was already clear that we were a bit of a motley crew of participants with varying degrees of internet knowledge, from those who had already established professional websites to those who hadn’t yet mastered the features of a Google search. However, he really managed to hit the nail on the head.

Vernon offered practical advice and useful tips, stressing, for example, the importance of retaining control of content on your site so you can still use the text and images if you ever decide to host it somewhere else. He also touched on how to get your hands on good quality, royalty-free images and outlined the pros and cons of buying a CMS outright vs licensing it. Vernon was refreshingly upfront about cost on all the options he discussed, and despite being in the business of web design himself, his advice was admirably impartial, not at all salesy and very valuable as a result.

I especially liked the way Vernon described a “spectrum” of options available to freelance translators interested in establishing their web presence. He explained that where you stand on this spectrum depends on the resources you are willing and/or able to commit (i.e. time, money and knowledge of web design). This was such a realistic assessment of the differing circumstances that us freelancers find ourselves in, and each person in that room could have had a professional website up and running by Monday as a result. (In fact, WMG are thinking of running a follow up session for participants to discuss the progress they’ve made following the day, testimony to the power of both speakers)

Vernon reenforced Nick’s message when he reminded us that the aim of a website should not be to bring in new business, but to authenticate your other marketing efforts. Like Nick, he also thought it valuable to use images of yourself on your site, to add “warmth” and to help your clients visualise the person behind the HTML. Now, while I agree that clients are attracted by a relationship and not just a service, the jury is still out on the value of personal pics as far as I’m concerned. I think I’ve been scarred by hearing the amount of ridicule that was heaped onto translators who dared show their face on their marketing material. (It wasn’t unheard of to have those pictures attached to the office notice board for an impromptu game of darts or pin the moustache on the translator…)

Knowledge is power, but only if we can see a way to apply it in our daily lives. Many techies pitch training sessions to impress rather than to enable, maybe with the notion that this will spur us on to research the area a bit more (or give up and call in the professionals). I’ve left many sessions more painfully aware of what I don’t know rather than what I do, but not this one. Now if that’s not a great way to build client loyalty, I don’t know what is!

I attended a two training sessions run by the West Midlands Group of the ITI last weekend – one by Nick Rosenthal from Salford Translations on Sustainable Customer Relationships, and the other by Vernon Blackmore from Ambit New Media on Websites for Translators. Excellent stuff, even if I did miss a very exciting rugby match on Saturday when my radio couldn’t get reception on the train home…

Sustainable Customer Relationships

Nick compared the relationship we have with our clients to the one we have with our partners, and made the really interesting point that dealing with clients doesn’t have to be so different from the way we already deal with our family and friends.

I got most value from the advice he offered on how best to present yourself as a freelance translator, and how you don’t have to pretend you’re running a giant multinational out of your back room. A really interesting point – so many freelancers believe they have to hide the fact that they they are the only person in their office, and in doing so, unwittingly set themselves up as competitors to the very people who are likely supply them with the bulk of their work, i.e. translation agencies.

There’s still a fine line to be tread, of course. I’ve worked in the kind of corporate environment where translation buyers were happy to work with individual suppliers, but where a “premium” image was everything. Setting yourself up as a maw and paw operation (I’m sure that’s the technical term!), complete with 5 cats and a penchant for crosswords was not going to get you on their list of preferred suppliers. I guess it comes down to finding a professional, as opposed to a personal, “voice” for your online presence, and I’m not entirely sure I’ve found one that I’m comfortable with yet… but Nick’s comments certainly gave me food for thought (another day’s post, perhaps?!)

It was probably a tricky session to pitch given the rather patchy IT skills of some freelance translators, but I think Nick underestimated the degree to which many of us already use the web to sustain our customer, and indeed private, relationships. Rather than focussing on an explanation of the resources available to do this, I’d like to have heard more about how he was using these resources, and indeed had seen them being used, in his own career.

Finally, Nick gave some excellent answers to questions from the audience, and I think this where he really shone. For example, in answer to how best a freelance translator might present their quality assurance processes, he suggested stressing how quality assurance starts at the very beginning of the translation process by accepting work only into your mother tongue and in areas of specialist expertise. It then continues right through to quality control in the form of checking, proofing, etc. Based on these nuggets of specific advice and anecdotes relating directly to freelance translators, I’d definitely consider attending a training with him again.

Thanks ITI WMG!